Wood screw gauge



March l5, 1960 G. D. SIEMANTl-:L

woon scREw GAUGE med Nov. 1, 1957 ATTORNEY United States Patent() WOOD SCREW GAUGE George D. SiemanteLRaton, N. Mex. Application November 1, 1957, Serial No. 693,877

3 Claims. (Cl. 33-178) .This invention relates generally to hand tools, and is more particularly concerned with'an improved good screw gauge facilitating the sorting, sizing and installation of standard wood screws.

The sizing and sorting of wood screws generally requires the use of calipers, rules and other tools andis generally time consuming and unsatisfactory. Addition-A ally, when an individualsuch as a carpenter or cabinetmaker desires to use wood screws on a given project,

unless he has had long years of experience relative to the bit sizes ofv push vdrill bits, and thread bits, he must. refer to prepared charts which furnish this necessary in-l screw, the body drill bit size, the thread drill bit size and.'`

push drill bit size.

Another object of this inventionis to provide a center punch-gauge to' be used when va standard wood screwA number is known for determining the body drill bit size', thread drillv bit size and push drill bit size to be used when installing a given standard screw, said center punch gauge additionally providing means for supporting a set of center punches to be disposed in the bore drilled for the body of a standard wood screw wherein a suitable mark may be made therewith on an underlying piece of material in order to properly align pieces of stock tobeV joined by the standard wood screw.

Another object of this invention 1s conformance with' that set forth is to provide in a wood screw gauge means.

for positioning countersink vstops of a drill bitused in installing standard woodscrews.

A still further object of invention is to provide ina wood screw gauge of the character set forth means for determining whether a given body drill bit size is oversized, undersized, or the exact dimension of the body of a standard wood screw being used.. i

More particular objects of the invention will become apparent from the reading of the following description of the preferred' embodiment, they appended claims vand the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is atop plan view ofthe wood screw gauge "of the invention; Y

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the screw gauge;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the screw gaugei Figure 4 is a side elevation of the screw gauge opposite the side shown in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged section taken on line 55 of Figure 1, showing by means of phantom lines the manner in which a screw would be sized by using the gauge;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the center punch gauge of the invention;

2,928,181 Patented Mar. 15,1350

Figure 7 is a'side elevation of the center punch gauge, the center punch gauge being inverted;

' Figure 8 is aside elevation of the center punch gauge looking at the'side opposite that shown in Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a section taken on line 9'-9 of Figure 6, showing the manner in` which one of a set of center punches would be storedA in the gauge, and further showing the mannerfin which the center punch gauge could be usedin aligning two pieces of stock material to be joined by a standard wood screw,

Referring to the drawing in detail, indicated generally at 10 is the novel `wood screw gauge comprising in the preferred embodiment an lelongated body member l12 formed fromany suitable material such as a hard wood, plastic or metall.v The body member in the preferred embodiment isdisclosed as being substantially rectangular, however, other cross sectional congurations are adaptable, and the body member of the gauge might encompass circular or oval shaped cross section;

Extending l'through the upper and lowersurfaces 14 and 16 of the body member are a plurality of graduated bore portions 18, each of which havinga different diameter and conforming to the diameter of the body porin Figure 2, for example.

tion of a standard screw. As indicated, the gauge includes eighteen bore portions comparable to the standard wood screws numbered zero to twenty-four as seen Indicated at. 20 are printed indicia reading head and bodyf indicating to a user of the gauge that .this side will befacing up when a wood screwis being fitted in one of the bores 18. Each of. the bores-18 terminates in a countersunk collar 22 facili-.

tating the adjustment of stops on a countersinking bit,

this expedient being utilized when installing flat head screws. v A The body member 12 includes a bevelled edge 24 having formed thereon and -extending from the end 26 of* the body member a linear scale 28'for the purpose of measuring the lengthof a screw being sized..

The sc rew gauge may be used with wood screws having flat, oval or round heads. l

Considering Figure 2, which is visible as seen when rotating the body member towardr an individual from the position shown in Figure 1', formed on the side 3 0 of the body member are printed indicia 32 designating the screw number indicated'by numerical indicia 34, each of th'e numerical indicia being 'in alignment with one lo t the bores 18 and designating a standard screw number. Providedon 'the side" 36 of the body member opposite side a'reprinted indiciadesignated| as body drill bit as indicated at 38 and comprising fractional numerical 40, each being of a'diiferent value in alignmentwith I one of the bores'18 and indicating the body drill bit size for forming a bore to accommodate the body of ar given standard wood screw. The edge at the intersection between the side'36 and topV 14 of Vthe body member lis bevelled'as indicated ate42 and includes'thereon printedy t indicial reading over or under` indicated at 44 and incorporating a plurality of letter indicia as indicated atr 46, the letters reading O designating that the body drill .bit size suggested will be slightlyoversized relative to the diameter` ofv a given wood screw. The fact that the body drill bit 'mail be slightly" oversized will'no't be of any consequtnce when installing wood screws since there is no necessity for controlling the size for the body of a wood screw to small decimal tolerances. The letter U indicates that the body drill bit size may be slightly undersized. The letter B will indicate that the drill bit suggested will be the exact size for the given wood screw.

Provided on the bottom 16 of the body member and extending the length thereof adjacent side 36 are printed indicia indicated at 48 reading thread drill bit and comprising fractional numerical indicia indicated at 5G, Y

vided on the bottom 16 of the bodyl member are ,printed indicia 52 reading push drill bit designating the standard push drill bits generally numbered in a setfmm 1 tc 8 as seen in Figure 3,V and indicated at 54, said'indicia 54 lbeing in alignment with the screw numbers 2 through 16, and indicating to a user of the gauge which push drili bit should' be utilized when starting a given screw. Considering PL fo-r example, it will be seen that either standard screws 2 or 3 would be installed by utilizing the push drill bit #1. However, it -will be seen-that push drill bit P7 should generally be used only for` installing standardscrew A14,. Y l' Y Y" The gauge is used in the following manner:

As seen in Figure 5, it was found that the body `of the screw S was received in that aperture 18 in alignment with screw #14. Thus it was readily determined that the screw being sized was a #14 screw, and after measuring the length of the screw using scale 28. other #14 screws having the' same length could be readily obtained for a customer, for example, or be sized by a clerk who has a number of assorted unsized screws on hand. After determining that the screw size is a #14, by rotating the gauge and observing side 36, it will readily bc ascertained that the body drive bit size should be 1A inch and that this drill bit is slightly oversized. By once more rotating the gauge and viewing the bottom 16 of the gauge it may be readily determined that the thread drill bit size for proper installation of the screw should be @/32 ofy an inch. and the push drill bit sizewould be a P7.

Thus an individual with relatively litte mechanical background and training may readily sort various wood screws, determine the size of various screws in order to obtain the same for customers, and may also readily ap-v prise a customer of the drill bit size data in order to properly install the screw. v Y

Considering Figures 6 through 9, indicated generally at 60 is a center punch gauge comprising a base 62 having suitably secured thereon a body member 64. The body member 64 has formed in theupper surface 66 thereof a plurality of different sized bores 68 conforming the different diametered center punches which normally be stored therein. Adjacent the bores 68 and extending longitudinally of the upper surface of the-body member are indicia 70 indicating a'standard screw number. "Extending longitudinally along one side 72 of the-body member 64 are printed indicia reading body drill bit asndicated at 74 and comprising fractional `numerical indicia 76, each of the numerical indicia 76 being in alignment with one of the bores 68 and -designating the .proper-body drill bit size to be used when a given standard screw number is known. On the other side 78 of the `body member 64, see Figure 7, are printed indicia 80 reading thread drill bit which comprises longitudinally spaced fractional numerical indicia 82, each of the numerical indicia being in alignment with one of the bores 68 and indicating the proper thread drill bit size to be used with the given known wood screws. Extending longitudinally along the side 78 adjacent the top 66 of the body memical indicia 84 designating'the push drill bit size to be used with a given wood screw.

The center punch gauge is used as follows:

After having ascertained the proper screw number by using the gauge 10, for example, if the screw number is #16, in alignment with this screw number will be the proper center punch C. By referring to side 72 of the gauge, it will readily be determined that the body drill bit size will be 1,764, and by referring to the opposite side of the gauge it will be readily determined that the thread drill bit size for proper installation of the screw is ylths of an inch and the push drill bit size would be a #8.

The determination of the proper center punch is of considerable importance in order to do accurate work, in cabinet-making. for example, the center punch being initially aligned in the bore formed to receive the body of a given `wood screw, and being struck ,to form a proper mark on an underlying piece of stock in order to form the bore by means of thev thread drill bit.

Thus there has been disclosed a 'novel .wood screw gauge and center punch gauge which may be readily and economically manufactured, easily used, and practical for individuals skilled or unskilled in the use of wood screws.

The construction shown embodies the invention in a preferred form, but it is intended that the disclosure be illustrative rather than definitive, the invention being defined in the claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

l. A wood screw gauge comprising an-elongated bodyV substantially rectangular in cross section, said body including a plurality of longitudinally spaced, transverse bore portions each differing in diameter from the others and extending through opposite sides thereof, each of said bore portions conforming to a dilferent body size of a standard wood screw, and plural series of indicia means on each of the sides of said body in alignment with said bore portions, one series of indicia indicating the body drill bit size to b e used to form a bore to accommodate av given screw body, a second series of indicia adjacent said bore portions indicating over size, under size or exact size of a drill bit as compared with a given screw, a third series of indicia adjacent said bore portions indicating the standard wood screw number of a screw accommodate in a given bore portion, a fourth series of indicia adjacent said bore portions indicating a push drill bit number to be used for a given screw, and a tif/th seriesbore portions include an annular countersunk portion for accommodating the head of a wood screw therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS .409,414 Meek Aug. 20. 1,889 1,025,255 Driver i May 7, 1 912 2,728,145 Holladay a- -f--aa De@ 2,7, .1955 

